Published 7:00 pm, Friday, February 9, 2007

Citing recent budget cuts, a Midland County office will soon reduce its hours.

County Clerk Karen Holcomb said her office lost two co-ops and then had a new employee, who needed training, shifted into the department because of layoffs. The co-ops worked both in the county clerk's office and the circuit court clerk's office.

The circuit court clerk's office will have the reduced hours. Beginning Feb. 20, the office will not be open to the public for phone calls or counter work until 9 a.m. The office previously opened at 8 a.m. The office will still be open during the lunch hour, and close at 5 p.m.

"I know some other counties that have done this," Holcomb said. "We will maintain services and hope that (the public) will bear with us and understand where we're coming from.

The cuts haven't only affected hours, it also has hurt the normal work flow. For example, she said the office is still getting new asbestos cases, and that the files in them are "unbelievable."

"We don't have time to get the filing done," Holcomb said. "It's in a big pile. There's a four-feet tall (pile) of just asbestos filing. …Two people worked one Saturday for five hours each (filing)."

The staff also have trouble keeping up with the daily filing for the other cases.

"It's a stressful situation because when the judges go in a courtroom and a case is in there, you're not sure everything is in there," Holcomb said, adding they have always prided themselves on having everything in the files. "Right now that's not the case.

"When you're rushing around to get something in a file, that's when mistakes happen," she said.